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Chapter One: Ashes On Sunday
Chapter One: Ashes On Sunday is the series premiere of Coda. It takes place just outside of Atlanta on a highway with the group searching for gas. Synopsis *Hope for survival is garnered when siblings Harper and Declan, alongside their father and son neighbors, Kari and Jason, stuble on a group situated on Exit 285 near Atlanta. (Present time) *Harper attempts to locate her brother near the beginning of the post-apocalyptic outbreak of a mysterious virus. (Flashbacks) Episode Transcript "How much further now?" Candace asked the group, which was dragging their feet on the side of the dirty, abandoned highway, searching for any remnants of people, food, or gas. "It really can't be too far..." Harper responded, tripping over her words due to thirst and exhaust, "the gas station we last saw had no gas and was twenty miles in the opposite direction, so when we do get there, don't get your hopes up." With their caravan of cars miles behind them, the small group became desperate for gas, praying they didn't get stranded in another pack of the undead atrocities known as walkers. "I think I see something," Declan alerted the group, passing Kari a long blade to cut through anything in the way. Sure enough, four mauled walkers approached the group, preparing to feast on them like Thanksgiving Day. "Let's finish this quietly." Harper demanded, fearing the loud blast of a gunshot would only alert more in their vicinity. Listening to their leader, Declan and Kari approached the undead, kicking the back of their legs and stabbing them in the head in one swift motion, to ensure the walkers didn't get to them. "Just another day in the office." Jason muttered to himself, impressed by his father and Declan's work. He looked down at his feet and smirked. "Never will get used to that god-awful smell," Candace said between breaths, trying to breathe out of her mouth to avoid the asphyxiating smell of rotting flesh, "why can't they smell like creme brulee? Or even a hot cup of coffee?" "You're thinking with your stomach, Candace. It's making mine hurt." Harper smiled as she spoke, and Candace flipped her the finger in response. Harper checked the ammunition count on her weapon. Fully loaded, so she could get out and fight off the walkers approaching her. "Fucking hell. More of these bastards?" Harper spoke to herself, seeing more walkers coming from the other side. She decided it wasn't worth the effort or ammo, and made a break for the exit of the large shopping mall she had been searching for her brother, Declan, inside of. "Are you alright, Harp?" Candace asked Harper when they regrouped alongside Ross about twenty feet away from the entrance of the mall, hiding behind a large red Chevrolet truck. "Never better, I'm assuming?" Ross asked with a smirk. "If I hadn't ran into you two again I would be." Harper jokingly responded to him, peering over the edge of the cold truck, ready to make another run for it to avoid the undead. "Stu needs to hurry his ass up. We gotta find my brother. I can't think of anywhere else he could be, we've already checked his restaurant." "Didn't you say something about his wife working at a law firm? Maybe he went to look for her?" Ross asked her, ready to pitch in any idea that could help the search. "He did say he was gonna find her last I spoke to him, but we've already been there...he also said he'd stop for gas. There are too many fucking gas stations in this city, so let's start with the closest one?" Harper responded, and they entered the truck, waiting for Stu. Moments later, Stu ran up to the truck, alongside Kari and Jason, knocking and killing walkers in his way with a shovel. Kari and Jason hopped in the back of the truck, and once Stu got in the truck, he entered passenger seat and gave a short kiss on the lips to Harper. "Lets get this show on the road, baby." Piper read her favorite book, "Catching Fire," as she waited for the rice to be done cooking. "How's she holding up?" Noah asked Laurel as he took note of her paying close attention to Piper while they both sat on dirty lawn chairs atop the Chevron gas station. "She's not doing okay...it wasn't but a week ago when we lost her parents and sister." Laurel responded, rubbing her shoulder gently, preparing to get up, "No matter how tough she is, that loss is something that's gonna be a bitch to recover from." "Like you said, she's tough." Noah smiled at Laurel, "so she will." "I'm going to go talk to my brother, see you later?" "For sure." Noah watched as Laurel hopped off the small gas station, heading inside to speak to her brother, Kevin. Matt watched Laurel walk through the front door as he stood against the wall outside. He waited for Ramona to give him an update on their food supply so they could make the smartest decision when it came to rationing off what they had. Ramona finally approached Matt, holding a clipboard and a pen. "Today's rations aren't looking so good. Ever since we sent Brandon, Rebel, Cheryl, and Fred off to scavenge with some of the food, we've been running low. I knew we should've have let so many of them..." Ramona updated Matt, as he nodded in agreement to the latter statement. "Brandon insisted on taking Rebel with him. That wife of his will be the death of him, I'm telling ya." Matt shook his head at the thought of it. "I'll go make sure Kevin is finishing up the rice fine enough." Ramona declared, walking away from Matt and stuffing her pen in her pocket. The group finally walked up the road through Exit 285, nearing the gas station they dreaded would be empty on gas. "I see someone...stand down." Harper declared to the group, noticing the young girl sitting down under the shade of the gas station reading a book. "They're living people. Let's go to them!" Candace nearly shouted this, but keeping her volume low enough to where the girl and her group wouldn't hear her. Declan made sure his gun was loaded, in case the group didn't have good intentions. Harper crouched down and approached the group slowly, staying in cover in case a lookout took a shot at her. "I'm not letting you go alone." Declan demanded, going along with her. Candace, Kari, and Jason lied down on their stomachs to avoid being spotted. "What the hell?" Matt shouted out, noticing Declan before he could reach cover. Matt raised his gun, and called to Kevin for help. Kevin ran outside and got his sniper rifle off his back strap and aimed it at Harper, who had come out of cover with her hands raised. "What the hell...who the hell are you?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. "We're safe people." Harper responded coldly, "We're cool if you're cool." "Where are we headed to next?" Stu asked his girlfriend, Harper, who was driving Stu's truck downtown. "Well, Declan could be near the law firm Riley works at, so we're heading there to check the area. Look for his yellow jeep when we get there, it could be at a gas station. Last I checked he was low on fuel." Harper responded as she drove, paying close attention to any parking lots they passed by. "How do we even know he's still in the city? He could've found Riley and gotten out of here the moment he could to get back to Dallas and look for you." Ross asked Harper sincerely, wondering if their efforts even mean anything. "I told him to stay put after he found Riley, he's gotta be here somewhere." "Unless the biters got him." Candace muttered. The truck was filled with silence as a chill went up Harper's spine, fearing the worst for her brother and sister-in-law. "Won't happen. He's too smart for it to happen to him." "We have to think realistically. If we don't find him soon, maybe it's best we hold up somewhere for the night and find them tomorrow." Ross input his advice, ready to lay down and give up for the day. "Not so fast..." Stu adjusted himself in the seat to point at a nearby Dollar General, "Right there." Sure enough, a yellow jeep with a Georgia Bulldogs bumper sticker was taking up one of the gas tank slots. "How do we know you're not here to kill us and take our shit like that last group of idiots tried to do? Much less, how do we know you're not with them?" Noah asked Harper, almost ready to send the group in the other direction. "I can't give you any proof, but I can give you my word." Harper responded strategically, "My word's the best I can give now anyway." Noah looked at Matt with concerned eyes. Matt spoke up, "We'll let you speak for now, but if I don't like what I'm hearing, you're gone. Is that clear?" "Crystal." Harper put her gun in her holster and signaled for the rest of the group to follow. "Perfect!" Candace was excited to finally meet new people. "We're looking for gas. We have a group of two cars maybe five miles away towards Atlanta. We got out of there a few days ago and haven't looked the other way." Kari explained to the new group as he eyed down Laurel, clearly interested in what he was seeing. "We got a few tanks left, cowboy." Laurel told him with a smile, "if you don't wanna carry those, we can give you a ride back to your cars. But if you want, I think you can handle holding something like this a few miles, can't you?" "If I'm in the car with you, I'd rather not be carrying them myself." Harper introduced herself to the new group and went off to the side with Candace to discuss business. "Do you think these guys are willing to just hand over gas?" Candace asked her. "I don't think so, they definitely want something in return." Harper returned the gesture of doubt and wanted to discuss things further with the leader, Matt. "I have to pee, and I'd rather not use those disgusting bathrooms gas stations usually have. I'm gonna go to the edge of the woods." "Be careful, please." "I always am." "Do you think they're good people?" Kevin asked his sister, afraid that the new group they had met would turn on them for their supplies. "I like them. That kid with them doesn't look a day older 18, they seem like good people to me." Laurel responded. "Yeah, well those bandits that almost killed us all had what looked like a 12 year old with them. Ages deceive, it's their advantage in this world." Laurel nodded her head in agreement. Candace approached the edge of the woods and pulled a roll of toilet paper out of her supply bag, ready to pee in peace. As she unbuckled her belt, she heard rustling from behind her. Pulling out her knife, she look behind a tree, only for something to jump into her. The rabbit hopped away from her, being scared by her like she was scared from it. "Fuck you, Buggs Bunny." Candace chuckled to herself, now relaxed. A loud groan from behind her turned into a sharp pain in the side of her neck when a walker bit into her unexpectedly, hearing her shouts from the rabbit. Candace let out a loud scream while more walkers erupted from the woods, ready to feast. "Declan? Are you here?" Stu called out from outside the gas station. He alongside the group looked inside the gas station's broken windows and noticed a few walkers. "There are walkers in there. He can't be here." Harper sighed and leaned over, putting her hands on both knees. "Wait. Is that him?" Ross noticed a man sneaking up on a walker, stabbing it in the head. "Yes it is! DECLAN!" Harper yelled out. Declan then noticed the group outside, only hearing the loud groans of the walkers beforehand. Declan's back was turned when another walker came from behind him and tackled him. "OH SHIT!" Candace yelled out, running over to his aid alongside the rest of the group. '' ''Stu put down a couple of walkers, and one nearly grabbed him from behind before Harper kicked it to the ground and stabbed it through the back of it's head. '' ''Declan attempted to fight the walker, until Jason kicked the walker in the head and Kari stomped on it's head under his boot. "Nice one." Declan said as he grabbed Kari's arm and pulled himself up. With the walkers all cleared, the group rejoiced at the checkout table. "Nice to see ya sis." Declan spoke to his sister. "You too, Dec." Harper hugged him for a moment then put her arm around Stu. "Ow, Harp. My fucking back." Stu pulled away. Harper looked concerned, going behind him. She pulled up his shirt, "Oh shit..." Harper muttered to herself, seeing the bloody bite mark on Stu's lower back. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Jason shouted, hearing the screams of Candace as she was torn apart by walkers. The group rushed over to witness her being eaten alive. "FUCK!" Harper screamed as she pulled out her pistol and began shooting the walkers alongside Matt. Declan ran over to Candace and kneeled in front of her as she bled out painfully on the grass. "Did it... did it get me?" Candace moaned to herself, blood now coming out of her mouth, as well. "You're gonna be fine, Candy..." Declan spoke to her with tears coming into his eyes. "Oh my gosh...I'm gonna be sick." Jason mumbled. "Me too..." Piper responded. Jason covered his mouth to prevent puking and ran to the bathroom with Piper. Kari followed them to make sure they were safe. "What do we do?" Matt whispered to Harper, who wiped tears off of her face. Candace died in Declan's arms. Harper pointed her gun at Candace's head, burying her head in her brother's shoulder who was sitting next to her. Harper pulled the trigger. Deaths * Numerous bandits (Confirmed Fates) * Piper's parents (Confirmed Fates) * Piper's sister (Confirmed Fate) * Candace Peters Co-Stars * Alison Brie as Candace Peters * Jordan Fisher as Stu Stevens * Jeremy Allen White as Noah Ford Trivia * First appearance of Harper Lodge * First appearance of Declan Lodge * First appearance of Kari Andrews * First appearance of Jason Andrews * First appearance of Matt Archer * First appearance of Noah Ford * First appearance of Laurel Davis * First appearance of Ramona Whitson * First appearance of Kevin Davis * First appearance of Piper Bradshaw * First appearance (in flashbacks) of Stu Stevens * First appearance (in flashbacks) of Ross Patricks * First (and last) appearance of Candace Peters (Alive)